ASRock A75M-ITX FM1 AMD A75 (Hudson D3) HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Mini ITX AMD Motherboard

Pros: HDMI works on first boot, great sound processing and decent bios.

Cons: Make sure you reference the approved processors on ASRock's website. I purchased this board with an AMD A6-3500 Llano 2.1 ghz, and it is giving me several problems. The board posts and boots fine, however using any application that attempts to use multiple cores (HD video playback) results in either an unexpected shutdown or the BSOD "A clock interrupt was not received on a secondary processor."

I'm on the latest bios (1.6), and have updated all drivers. Windows 7 x64 updated fine to SP1. The problem persists. Going to attempt using a different CPU.

Other Thoughts: Hoping this issue will be solved by Newegg RMA, it seems like a fantastic board if I could actually use my HTPC for it's intended purpose.

Manufacturer Response:

Dear ASRock Customer

We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you. Mainboard supports A6-3500 out of the box. BSOD usually related to memory.
Please set the UEFI BIOS default.
Test with 1 stick memory, try with another known good memory if it's same issue.
If you have any technical questions or warranty issues please contact our Tech Support at http://www.ASRock.com/support/tsd.asp. We can assist you shortly.

Thank you

ASRock SUPPORT
Tech Support Email: user@ASRockamerica.com

Pros: Good performance, good price, lots of features.

Cons: Limited CPU cooler options in low profile configurations because the board apparently violates AMD's recommendations for board layout. Essentially if you use any RAM with a tall heat spreader, then you can't use the a low-profile CPU cooler and of course the tall ones won't fit in most ITX HTPC cases.

Other Thoughts: If you're using a 65W A-series proc with this board, then you're probably fine with the noise level of the OEM CPU fan, but if you upgrade to a 100W quad-core, like I did, then it'll be too noisy once you fire up a game or XBMC.

I may end up having to install a Corsair hybrid water cooler to solve the issue. Either than or replace the motherboard.

The dumb thing about the heat spreader issue with the RAM is that this board is marketed for overclocking with performance RAM, which is always going to have tall heat spreaders...

Manufacturer Response:

Dear ASRock Customer

We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you. The CPU fan speed can be set to lower RPM at BIOS, H/W Monitor, CPU Fan 1 & 2 Setting [Automatic Mode], set the fan level to 5 (lower level is slower), save and exit. If you have any technical questions please contact us at http://www.ASRock.com/support/tsd.asp. We can assist you shortly.


Thank you

ASRock SUPPORT
Tech Support Email: user@ASRockamerica.com

Pros: Looks good on paper.

Cons: Motherboard was dead on arrival and fails to POST. It seems that this is a recurring issue with this component.

Other Thoughts: Thankfully Newegg RMA'd it. ASROCK was also ready to send a replacement, no questions asked. While I'd like to think this is just good service, I suspect it's because this is a known issue with this component.

Manufacturer Response:

Dear ASRock Customer

We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you. Please update replacement mainboard is working fine. If you have any technical questions or warranty issues in the future please contact us at http://www.ASRock.com/support/tsd.asp. We can assist you shortly.

Thank you

ASRock SUPPORT
Tech Support Email: user@ASRockamerica.com

Pros: Worked well for HTPC build. Small form factor supports HDMI/surround sound.

Cons: HDMI out will not work for bios/post so if your building a HTPC hook up a monitor through the vga to get everything installed.

Pros: I'm using this motherboard for my HTPC and it's been great. Super stable, never one problem with it. Very satisified with this product.

Cons: None.

Pros: Great board for the few months that it worked.

Cons: Extremely brittle PCB. I took it out of it's case this morning to change out the HSF with a much better cooler, and while gently tightening the backplate (Noctua style rectangle) there was an audible crack.
Booted the pc up and started to hear a slight buzzing sound as if something had shorted. Turned it off, completely disassembled everything to inspect it, swapped to a different power supply and turned it back on.
Same buzzing sound from the board.
After about an hour and three more tries to locate the short, I could smell something burning and immediately unplugged the machine.

Other Thoughts: I would'nt say these are particularly BAD boards, but if you aren't treating them like very fragile old glass you will end up setting fire to the money you spent on it. Quite literally

Pros: Great features and small size.

Bios is nice to use.

Cons: No sure if the Wake-On-Lan is working thus far, nothing mentions on configuration in the manual. Other wise great board.

Other Thoughts: If I had to complaine the D-SUB (VGA) should have been attached to the board instead of being up so high as it feels like if you pushed too hard on the connecotr it would break off.

Pros: Excellent motherboard for an HTPC using XBMCbuntu.

Paired this with an APEX MI-008 case, 8GB ram, an A4-3400 CPU and a sata III SSD and it's been running flawlessly for a week now.

Plays 1080p video without missing a beat from my NAS and is near silent. Stays cool even with CPU fan set on lowest setting.

Cons: Not really a con, but it would have been nice if Newegg carried the ASROCK Smart Remote that pairs with this motherboard. I had to search around for someone that had it.

Other Thoughts: I was hesitant to go with the A4-3400 with this mb, but I'm glad I did. It kept the cost for the HTPC down and works perfectly.

Pros: No problems so far!

Cons: None so far (had for 1+ week)

Pros: Nice board with great features at a good price.

Cons: The intended purpose for this MB was to host VMware ESXi for home development and testing server. I did my home work and checked ASRock's compatibility matrix for CPU matches. I found that the AMD A8 3870 was compatible. When I attempted to configure the MB, the board would not post with the A8 CPU. I ended up buying a lesser A4 CPU to test, which was successful.

Other Thoughts: I assume with the results that the A8 was not compatible as configured. The BIOS was not current or the MB will not accept the A8 in the current version I purchased. With the other problems I have had with ASRock MB's, I elected to demote this MB to less intensive and critical roles. With the track record I have had with ASRock products, I will probably will not buy anything again.